Dam oustees continue fast for fourth day, take out rally in Bhopal

Narmada Jeevan Adhikar Satyagraha and Upwaas-the protest launched on June 28 by the oustees of Omkareshwar, Indira Sagar, Maheshwar, Maan and Upper Beda dams in Bhopal-entered the fourth day on Monday.

Narmada Bachao Andolan activist Alok Agrawal continued his fast along with five others for the fourth day.

Hundreds of dam oustees took out a rally from Neelam Park to Narmada Bhawan and protested in front of Narmada Valley Development Authority office which is responsible for the rehabilitation and resettlement of the oustees of Narmada dams.

The vice-chairman of Narmada Valley Development Authority Rajneesh Vaish and other officers had to come to meet the oustees where the people told them about their rehabilitation problems and demanded that immediate action must be taken.

A group of 30 oustees headed by NBA activists Chittaroopa Palit and Alok Agarwal met the officers of NVDA and discussed in greater detail the issues of rehabilitation.

On behalf of the oustees, they demanded that they should be given land for land and minimum five acres of irrigated land in accordance with the R&R Policy and order and the judgment of the Supreme Court, R2.5 lakh for the livelihood of landless labourers for all dams, land acquisition for the houses falling in the submergence and other facilities of rehabilitation.

The oustees also demanded that the deadline of rehabilitation package be extended from 15 July, 2013 to 30 October, 2013. Vaish said immediate action would be taken in consultation with the government.

Oustees protesting in front of the Narmada Valley Development Authority office cautioned the government that they would intensify the struggle if no immediate action is taken regarding their demands.

The ‘satyagraha’ is receiving a lot of support from people all over the country. Sunilbhai of Kisan Adivasi Sangathan and Samajwadi Jan Parishad, Pramod Pradhan of CITU, Vidya Mishra of Nari Jagriti Manch, Bharti Shukla of Vimarsh, Jabalpur and many others came to the ‘satyagraha’ site on Monday to show their support for the dam oustees.

The first round of M Pharm registration, verification of documents and choice locking would be done between July 5 and 16, merit list would be announced on July 17 and allotments on July 19.

The admissions would be conducted till July 23.

In the second round, the verification of documents and choice locking would be done between July 6 and 20, merit list would be announced on July 24 and allotments on July 26. The admissions would be conducted till July 30, the schedule announced by the directorate of technical education (DTE) mentioned.